


This Corner of Ours

by Wimmy



Category: EXO (Band), Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anyways, Arranged Marriage, Domestic Violence, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Homophobia, I promise they'll have a happy ending though, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm debating, Let's Go Lesbians, M/M, Multi, Non-Graphic Violence, Secret Relationship, Villager AU, a minute maybe, everyone will, exo boys, for like......, idk we'll see, lesbians!!!, maybe like the word punch, oof one more real tag, or a kick, that's it lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2019-12-25 16:02:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18264686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wimmy/pseuds/Wimmy
Summary: Life in their village is quaint. All anyone ever does is work, and nothing changes.Joohyun wants change. She can't stand the monotony of the days that pass by, but she has Seulgi to color her world. There's only so much she can do, though. The village is strict and stuck in it's ways, expecting things from the both of them they could never give.They know they can't stay in the village. Escape is their only option.Irene and Seulgi are lesbians who try to make the best of their boring lives. From Joohyun's point of view.





	1. Chapter 1: Summer

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to This Corner of Ours! I literally stayed up till 1 am writing this instead of sleeping, so If you could, drop a comment and some kudos! I'd love some opinions and feedback if you have any. Please enjoy, and thank you!!

Summer shows up in subtle ways in their village. Tiny sprouts poking through the dirt, or the kittens wandering around the roads. The way the birds sang throughout the day instead of simply chirping the world awake; The quick notes eventually turned into melodies floating on the breeze, dancing on the wind. Flowers perfumed the air with richer scents than their new buds had during the spring. The way fireflies began to blink in and out of existence when the sun fell past the horizon. Summer wasn’t just heat and blue skies. Summer was the start of livelines for them. For Joohyun, summer was an escape, a time to hide away from the lie she was living. 

Putting on a character to entertain others’ fantasies was tiring. Joohyun played the simple, modest girl who wanted nothing more than to care for her village and carry on their tradition. Surprisingly, many of the villagers bought into the act, complacent with the girl they were presented with. 

Her uncle, Youngsoo, was especially happy with her. He’d been her caretaker since she was four, when her parents died. He treated her as his own, made sure she grew up properly. She knew that she was a burden on him, though. There was a bitter undertone to his words, to his actions, and Joohyun knew it was because of her. She had been dropped on him when he was finally getting settled. His then fiance left him because of her, and she knew he was still resentful for it. Joohyun did her best to care for herself, buying herself time before her uncle decided it was time to marry her off. It was inevitable. It happened to all the girls before her and her friends. Her mother, even, had been sent off to this village to marry a man she didn’t know, much less loved. 

Joohyun didn’t want that life. She wanted to get away, like Seungwan did. She wanted to escape the cruel fate she was dealt before she was even thought of. Seungwan had secretly auditioned for a music company, and not a week later, she was off to the States. Now, she was a pop sensation, living as Wendy, spending her days in the spotlight, doing what she loved. Joohyun didn’t exactly want what Seungwan had, but she did want to run away. Live a life she had control over, a life she could decide for herself. Most importantly, she wanted to live a life where she could be herself. 

She could just imagine it right then and there. She was living in Seoul, in a cramped apartment that had barely enough room for two people, but it was home. She had a job as a school music teacher, teaching children about the basics of music and how to appreciate it. She was surrounded by friends. People who loved her, didn’t care about how she carried herself or how she acted, they loved Joohyun for being herself. The biggest thing about her fantasy life, though, was Kang Seulgi. 

Seulgi was the most important thing in Joohyun’s life. She made life bearable for Joohyun. If not for the fleeting glances and lingering touches, Joohyun would be a husk of a human being; nothing more than a soul adrift on the unforgiving waters of life. Seulgi made her want to believe that there was something better out there for them. That there was a light out in the murky darkness they were living in. 

Seulgi’s favorite season was summer. She said it made life somewhat enjoyable with the miniscule gifts it brought along with it. Seulgi was Joohyun’s summer, and she wouldn’t give her up for the world. 

\-------

Joohyun’s daily routine went something like this: wake up, wash up, get dressed, tend to the garden, then head down to Granny Choi’s clinic for work. It was simple, the way she liked it, but it got boring sometimes. 

She was in the middle of pulling out weeds when Yerim and Sooyoung, the village’s only children, came racing in. She paid them no mind as she picked out the offending plants from her vegetables. The two of them knew her rules. They could play in her garden as long as they didn’t trample any of her blooms. Soon enough, they were both laid on the ground next to her, huffing and puffing from their running, giggling at each other. 

“Sis,” Yerim said, “Do you have time to play with us today?”

Joohyun shook her head, not turning around. “Sorry, Yeri, I have to work. Don’t you two have school today anyway?”

The both of them giggled in response. 

“Yeah, but school’s boring. I wanna go swimming in the creek today!” Sooyoung said. Yerim made a noise of agreement. Rolling her eyes, Joohyun pulled up with last of the weeds from her crops. She stood, heaving the basket of plants onto her hip. 

“Yes, school is boring, but learning is important, girls.” 

Joohyun waved them off, starting another race between the two, and walked to the back door. There was a compost bin there, mostly for their food waste, but sometimes Joohyun threw a couple of weeds in there. After she’d tossed the plants inside, she stepped inside of the house into the kitchen. It was small with painted, white walls. The stove was older than she was, and sometimes it barely worked. A square table was pushed against the wall adjacent to the stove. There were three chairs. One for her, one for her uncle, and one for Seulgi. 

She quickly went into her room and changed out of her now dirt smeared clothes and into her “uniform”. Granny Choi had made it a point to let her wear comfortable clothing, but they were still working, so Joohyun did her best to look presentable. 

Not ten minutes later was she down the road at Granny Choi’s clinic. The building was small with only about 5 rooms, including the waiting area. When she arrived, there were already three people waiting inside. She greeted them with the typical, “Welcome to the clinic, do you have an appointment?” and “Dr. Choi will see you soon.”. She was sat at the desk for most of the day, but occasionally she’d help Granny Choi with a patient. 

The sun took its time climbing high in the sky that day. It seemed like hours passed as Joohyun sat at the desk, waiting for the next patient to walk in the door. Staring at the same room for an hour made time feel like a thick jelly. Her eyes were constantly wandering, searching for entertainment, but there wasn’t anything but Granny Choi’s calligraphy and old art hung up on the walls. 

She took to doodling on her appointment clipboard. It wasn’t like anyone else was going to see it anyway. As a human being with no artistic sense whatsoever, the swirls on her page looked a bit strange, but she kept at it. 

When the bell of the door rang, she went into her usual spiel, checking the clipboard and the time. There wasn’t supposed to be anyone coming then, so it must have been an emergency. She looked up to find Seulgi staring down at her with a whimsical grin on her face. 

“Hello, Joohyunnie, are you slacking off again?” Seulgi asked, looking down at Joohyun’s clipboard. 

“No, I’m just killing time, with my beautiful art.” Joohyun replied. She lifted to the clipboard to show off her awkward swirls, looking for Seulgi’s reaction. 

She laughed and took the clipboard from Joohyun. “Let’s hang it up on the wall next to Granny Choi’s art. She’d love it.”

“You mean you’d love it.” Joohyun grinned. Seulgi handed her the clipboard back, leaning on the counter. 

“So, tomorrow starts the first day of picking plum picking! I’ve been waiting all year for it.” Seulgi said. 

“Oh, have you? That’s what you said last fall when apple picking season started.” Joohyun teased. Seulgi rolled her eyes. 

“Can I not be excited to go and pick some fruit? I’m sick and tired of sitting in that general store all day. It’s boring and lonely.” 

“Who’s keeping you company this time?” Joohyun asked, tilting her head. Nobody came to mind when she thought of who Seulgi could be working with. They were the only women in the village aside from Yerim and Joy, and their men didn’t spend time picking in the fields. 

“Youngho!” Seulgi beamed. “He broke his foot so they kicked him off the boat for a month.”

Youngho was one of the boys in their village. He was taller than most of the other men and had a charm none of the others had. He was kind and relaxed, but hardworking. That’s probably how he had broken his foot. 

“Really? That’s not surprising. He’ll work himself to death one day.” Joohyun sighed. 

“And you’ll bore yourself to death. You should come picking with me for a season. It’s way more fun than sitting around doing almost nothing all day.” Seulgi grinned, grabbing Joohyun’s hand and interlacing their fingers. 

“You know I can’t do that. Who else would be here to help Granny Choi?” 

Seulgi snorted. “I don’t know, Sooyoung and Yerim?” 

“If they were here helping out, Granny Choi would have a stroke.” Joohyun said. They both laughed at that. Sooyoung and Yerim could drive the most patient human insane. Joohyun wondered how they’d get on in a professional setting. They’d probably wreck an office, destroy a hospital, and cause chaos in a courtroom. The two of them were too energetic for their own good. 

“Well, if you ever wanna escape the clinic for a month, I’ll be waiting.” Seulgi grinned. She leaned in, pecked Joohyun’s cheek, then left saying, “Je T’aime.” 

Wendy taught them the word when she’d visited two summers ago. Joohyun was sure they were mispronouncing it, but she didn’t care. It was their word, their secret ‘I love you’. 

The rest of Joohyun’s day was filled with waiting until the evening came around. People piled in with appointments and injuries from work. She was familiar with all the faces that stopped by, one being Kyungsoo, probably the only man she’d ever trust. He came in with a burn on his forearm, something Joohyun could take care of without having to ask anything of Granny Choi. While she patched him up, they talked about his day, working on cars and stuff in the next village over. There wasn’t anything interesting that happened aside from the burn, which he got from accidentally resting his arm on the exhaust pipe of a motorbike. Nothing noteworthy happened to Joohyun either, except the surprise visit from Seulgi. He mentioned something about her attending their nightly gatherings at the old village head’s house, but she declined. The last time she went and hung out with rowdy, immature men, she almost lost her temper. 

After the sun set, Granny Choi left Joohyun to lock up like she always did. Fortunately for her, there wasn’t anything too serious that happened that day, so her clean up was quick. After locking the door, she walked home. Normally, she’d be wary of people out at the hour, but the only faces she saw were the village boys and some older women. 

At home, she got dinner started. She made the standard stew, rice, and side dishes. It really wasn’t her forte, but she tried her best, and Seulgi usually ate it without complaint. Her uncle walked in not twenty minutes later, calling a greeting out and shuffling away to his room. He worked one of the harder jobs in the village. He worked as their and the surrounding village’s treasurer. Most of the villagers didn’t even know what the word treasurer meant, so he was left to keep the stress of his job on his own shoulders. Everyday was a constant struggle for him to balance budgets and keep track of everyone’s spending. Joohyun wouldn’t say anything, but she knew he needed a break. 

Seulgi walked in five minutes later, joining Joohyun at the table immediately. She ate and talked about how small the plums were in the part of the field she worked on. Her and Youngho had a competition to see who could pick the biggest one by the end of the day, and they both called a draw because they couldn’t agree on a standard for the shape and size. 

They finished dinner, without Joohyun’s uncle, but left him food and soju on the table for when he decided to get up. They hung out in Joohyun’s room, laying on her bed talking about what they’d do when they got a week off for the summer festival. There wasn’t much to do, but they wanted to make the most of it. They’d definitely want Wendy there, too. She hadn’t visited last year, promising that she’d make it this year and stay longer than her usual one month. 

Seulgi drifted off right in the middle of a sentence, Joohyun giggled softly. She looked so peaceful when she was sleep. It was as if all the stress was gone from her, leaving a soft, relaxed expression on her face. She tucked a strand of hair behind Seulgi’s ear. Seulgi leaned into the touch, sighing. Joohyun let her hand drift back down to the space between them. 

Moments like that, made Seulgi her summer.


	2. Chapter 2: Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Sorry I'm late on this, I'm trying to crank out two chapters for all three of my fics at once lol. Please enjoy this chapter, leave a comment, and some kudos! Thank you!

It was another morning. Joohyun was picking weeds from her garden once again, Yerim and Sooyoung were chasing butterflies around the yard. Her onions, potatoes, and tomatoes were starting to sprout. The sprouts that were just seeds weeks ago were now standing proud in the warm summer sun. Joohyun was rooting for this summer’s vegetables. Last year, she tried growing a few fruit trees, burying their seeds right after winter had melted away, but the seeds never bloomed. So, she went back to her usual vegetables, hoping for the best. 

When she headed down to the clinic, there was only one person waiting for her. It was Kyungsoo. 

“Good morning Joohyun.” He greeted. He must’ve been back for some antibacterial ointment. 

“Good morning, Kyungsoo,” She replied, unlocking the door and letting Kyungsoo step in first, “Is the pain back already, or do you need ointment?”

She set her things behind her desk, making sure to put it in the corner where she wouldn’t trip over them. 

“I’m here to keep you company,” He said, dragging a chair next to her and sitting down, “For some reason old man Kim told me to stay home for today after I told him about the burn.”

“Oh, well, that’s new.” Joohyun said. Old man Kim, the owner of the garage Kyungsoo worked at, was never one to let anyone skip work unless they were dying. The number of times she’d treated Kyungsoo and his friends for injuries only for them to come back after aggravating them further were countless. She remembers the week Kyungsoo twisted his ankle, leaving him hobbling around with a brace on. Her exact words were, “Don’t walk if you can help it. It’ll get worse if you continue walking on it the way you normally do,” and unfortunately for the both of them, old man Kim insisted that Kyungsoo come in for work. The next day, Kyungsoo couldn’t even stand up, the pain being unbearable, so he was basically put under house arrest by Granny Choi, which meant no work for at least a week. Minseok, Kyungsoo’s best friend, was the one who made sure he wasn’t up and about while he was supposed to be resting, although just like the rest of the village, he worked all day. He worked with Kyungsoo, too, so he came in with his fair share of injuries and issues, but unlike Kyungsoo, Minseok tried to minimize the amount of accidents he got himself into. 

Her morning wasn’t so boring for the first few hours with Kyungsoo there to keep her company. They talked about absolutely everything and anything. The antics that the boys got up to were relayed to Joohyun in exchange for gossip amongst the ladies of the village. Joohyun let herself talk on and on about how annoying the neighbor’s dogs were, trampling her garden when she accidentally left the gate open one day. Her flowers were destroyed, none left to salvage, but her vegetables were left untouched, which she was grateful for. She wouldn’t know what to do if all her hard work went without gain, especially when it came to her summer harvest. She relied on it for cooking and selling, well, she gave it to Aunt Hwang to sell and she got some of the profit, but she did need the vegetables to start making her summer dishes. 

Kyungsoo listened to her diligently before taking his turn to rant. On occasion, he worked the front desk, and the customers he worked with were insufferable. They constantly haggled for discounts on their already cheap services and argued with him about repairs. Just yesterday, an older man got mad at him for telling him that his scooter was on its last legs, insisting that the scooter would last him another year and that he just needed his engine repaired. Of course, Kyungsoo had to smile through the annoyance and pain, simply telling the man that they would fix his engine for him. 

They talked like that for hours, laughing, gossiping, and chatting because they rarely got to enjoy each other’s company. After all, they had been best friends before the rest of the village decided that they became too old to just be friends even though, they couldn’t be anything more than friends even if they wanted to, because they shared the same secret. 

Granny Choi interrupted their talking to remind Joohyun that coach Jonghae would be bringing in the soccer team for a check-up before their training camp next week. Joohyun checked her clipboard, and saw that there was in fact an appointment for the 10 boys at 2:30. Excusing herself from their conversation, she left Kyungsoo in the waiting room, going to assist Granny Choi with preparing a room and supplies. She wasn’t sure what kind of check-up they’d all be in for, so she prepared the standard and threw in extra supplies for a physical if needed. 

By the time she was done, the boys and coach Jonghae were already waiting to be checked in. The noise from all the boys shouting at once was giving her a headache, but she powered through. She scooted past Kyungsoo who was pretending to read a book and grabbed her clipboard. She shouted out the first name on the clipboard, and a lanky boy pushed his way through the group to stand at the desk. She pulled out a file, filled it in with his information, handed him the paper and told him to give it to Granny Choi, and sent him back. 

“If I knew it was going to be this loud, I would’ve actually stayed home.” Kyungsoo muttered, looking back up at Joohyun. They both looked at the group of children running around and shouting, trying to entertain themselves. She could feel the stress creeping into her muscles, tension taking over, and suddenly, she did not want to be a teacher anymore. 

“Me, too.” She sighed. They tried to keep a conversation going, but they couldn’t hear each other over the boys. Kyungsoo was visibly annoyed, frowning and taking deep breaths to calm himself. He came to hangout, so Joohyun would at least try to let him relax. 

She stood up and took a deep breath. “HEY.”

All the talking stopped. 

“I’m sorry boys, but if you could keep it down, that would be nice.” She smiled. Jonghae bursted out laughing and nearly fell out his chair. Kyungsoo snorted, and the boys joined in the laughter. Jonghae, after recovering from his laugh, got up and stood at the counter. 

“That was great, Joohyun, I’ve never seen them shut up that fast.” He sniffed. 

“Thanks I guess…” She replied, turning to continue talking to Kyungsoo.

“So how boring is it just sitting here all day.” He asked, leaning on her desk and into her space. 

She inched back. “I actually happen to like working here and Granny Choi needs an assistant.”

She turned her chair all the way, she had no interest in talking to Jonghae. He was one of the boys in their village who didn’t make it a secret that he was interested in her and Seulgi, so she tried to stay away from him. Having boys staring and her and chasing after her was annoying and bothersome. Even if she was interested in boys, she wouldn’t be picking anyone from the village. They were all bums, and even if they were good looking, they were jerks. So, Joohyun only hungout with a few select boys, including Kyungsoo and his friends, and Youngho.

“Oh, so you’re one of those girls then?” He said. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Jonghae.” She frowned. She was making a face at Kyungsoo, telling him that she was getting annoyed, and fast. 

“You know, the girls who like an easy job, like sitting lazily at a desk.” He said, a stupid smirk on his face and a glint in his eye. 

Kyungsoo cleared his throat. “Thanks for your opinion, Jonghae, but we were talking before you came over.”

“Oh,” Jonghae said, eyes wide open, “I didn’t know Kyungsoo spoke for you. Must be real close, you two.”

Joohyun was actually pissed. That was exactly why she kept to herself.

“I’m sorry Jonghae, but Kyungsoo is just trying to say that you can’t read the situation. If you actually need something, please do not hesitate to ask.” She snapped. Some weird emotion passed over Jonghae’s face before he shrugged, then went to sit back down. 

“Kyungsoo, if you ever become like that, I will personally murder you.” She whispered. 

He scoffed. “Sorry to break it to you, but I’ll be doing the honors.”

“Oh, well then, be my guest.” She giggled. The conversation kept rolling from there, with interruptions for Joohyun to do her job, and she happily let herself fall back into talking. 

After all the check-ups were done, it was determined that all the boys were fit to go to the training camp, so they were all gone an hour later. There were only two more appointments left in the day, thank god, so there would be no more shenanigans for a while. 

“Ugh, Kyungsoo, I miss Seungwan.” She sighed. 

“She didn’t visit last year, so I can see why. Isn’t she coming soon, though?” He said. 

Joohyun nodded. “Yeah, but summer just started, so she’s not going to be here for another month. It’s so boring without her here.”

“Well, it would be a lot less boring waiting for her if you came to our parties.” Kyungsoo said. 

“You know I’m never going to one of those stupid get togethers. Everyone I hate shows up.”

“I know, but you could give it another chance. You don’t even have to sit with them, they know the rules.”

The rules. The rules were… complicated. Their village was very small, and very traditional. The boys and girls were kept seperate, raised with completely different values and mindsets. One of the most important unspoken rules was that physical closeness was forbidden. If a girl was seen too close to a boy, that would immediately set off alarms, so Joohyun and Seulgi were generally left alone, but there were a few bold boys who ignored that rule, including Jonghae. 

“But you know how they are when they drink, Kyungsoo, I don’t want to risk it.” She said. 

“You could sit with us. You haven’t talked with Minseok in a while, he’s starting to think you hate him, too.” 

She laughed at that. “I could never hate him, he knows that, but still… I don’t know. I’ll ask Seulgi about it. If she wants to go, then I’ll go.” 

“Now, “ She grinned, “Enough about me, let’s talk about you. How’s Jongin?”

“Ugh, really? Can you let that go, Joohyun?” He groaned. Kim Jongin was another one of Kyungsoo’s coworkers. He was a year older than Kyungsoo, and lived in the village where the garage was. Joohyun would like to say that Jongin was like every other village boy, but he wasn’t. Jongin was a teddy bear. That was the only way Joohyun would describe him. His personality was soft, bubbly, and fluffy, but he knew when and where to be serious. His sweet demeanor and kind nature made him different from all the village boys she knew, and he looked better than all of them. All in all, Jongin was a charming guy with killer looks, and everyone loved him. One day, Kyungsoo let it slip that he maybe or maybe wasn’t keeping his eyes on Jongin. She didn’t let it go, even though he insisted that it was a stupid little crush and he was over it, something like that was too interesting to let go. Plus, he teased her about Seulgi all the time when they were younger, so it was payback. 

“He’s fine. Doing work like always, being too nice to the rude people who come in. Still talks to me too much.” Kyungsoo sighed. 

“Aww, is the attention too much for you, Soosoo?” She cooed, pinching his cheek.

He rolled his eyes and slapped her hand away. “If I’m being honest, kind of. He doesn’t even know how easy it is to fall for him. He’s too… sweet, he’s too sweet for me.”

“Isn’t sweet good? Better than a guy like Jonghae.” She grinned. 

“I guess, but when you’re that sweet, you distract people, and when you distract people they get hurt.” He retorted, holding up his arm. Leave it to Kyungsoo to be distracted from his work by a nice guy. 

“And I thought you were just clumsy, but no, you just can’t keep your eyes off of Jongin.” Joohyun said. “There’s only two ways to fix that problem, Soosoo. Either give up, or chase him. It’s your move.”

“Joo. Hyun. You know I can’t do that, it’s suicide. My parents would be rolling in their graves. I’ve already settled on moving on, I told you.”

“Hmm, but if you take a chance…” She said, “I mean, I did. Look where it got me, Kyungsoo.”

“That’s ‘cause you’re lucky, Joohyun. All my luck has already ran out, so I will be taking no chances, sorry. Plus, even if it did work out, I couldn’t do the whole secrecy thing. Too much stress. I’d rather move out to the city and be single than be together with him and here.” 

“Oh, you know what? Let’s do that.” She said, grabbing Kyungsoo’s hand. 

“Wait what? Do what?” 

“Let’s move to the city!”


End file.
